Defining Your Style | How To Create a Cohesive Interior

Posted on June 12 2018

Defining your style can often be the most overwhelming and confusing task for many people to get their head around when updating their interior. There are SO many different styles and looks to choose from nowadays and if you’re anything like us, we love so many elements from lots of different styles so it can be a challenge to remain consistent and narrow down your options at times. If you like a variety of different looks it can be hard to know which elements to take from each style and visualise how they might exist together to ensure an overall cohesive look. Here are some tips for discovering and defining your style:

Search for inspiration:Inspiration can be found all around us! That sounds like such an arty farty way to look at the world but it’s so true. Once you start to become aware, you’ll begin to notice elements in your world that you’re most attracted to repeatedly.

Pinterest, magazines, Instagram are all obvious places to look for inspo and we certainly recommend these as a starting point but there is so much inspiration around you in your every day life as well. Look to nature to find out what you are drawn to. It could be the colours on that tree you walk past each day, a beautiful bunch of flowers you receive or the ever-changing ocean moods. Keep thinking about what it is you love in life, what it is that makes you smile and feel comfortable. Then, collect images of those moments and start to collate a ‘moodboard’ (this doesn’t have to be fancy, it could be screen shots on your phone or scraps of torn paper – do whatever works for you).

Find the common thread: Now you have your inspiration together, you’ll probably start to see a recurring theme emerging between the images. It could be a similar colour palette ie. monochrome, neutral or colour-filled. The finish of surfaces – rustic and recycled or smooth and polished. It could be that all your images are minimal and clean as oppose to patterned and layered. As long as you’re truly sticking to what you love then your personal style will naturally emerge. Oh, and before you go telling yourself “I’m just not creative, I don’t have a style”, just remember, we are all creative on some level and a person’s ‘style’ is merely a series of preferences. We all have preferences!

So, what is the common thread in the inspiration you have collated? Are you drawn mostly to rustic timbers, exposed brick and black metal details? This might suggest your personal style is of an ‘Industrial’ nature. Are you loving the white and bright, light oak timbers and minimalist feel of the Scandinavian style? Perhaps you are most attracted to the patterns, colours and textures that are synonymous with the Bohemian genre or the blues, greens, whites and timbers that suit a Coastal home.

Even if you have a range of looks on your moodboard, there are bound to be common threads that you can hone in on to help define your style. This doesn’t mean you have to recreate these looks exactly or create a strict set of rules for yourself, but it does give you a nice framework and guideline to help you along when it comes time to make design decisions and purchases for your space. The best piece of advice we can give anyone is to just not take it too seriously! At the end of the day, go with your gut and what you like – you can’t possibly go wrong if you are purchasing items that you genuinely love.